Taking it One Brick at a Time

Many of you know that Seth has been a part of a masonry apprenticeship program.  With the apprenticeship program you take classes for a couple of months every year and then you log in many, many hours of work.  Then to get certified there is a Red Seal test.  Here in Canada there are 57 Red Seal trades a person can do.  Recently Seth took the Masonry Red Seal test and passed and now is a "Certified Red Seal Mason".  We are pretty proud of him and all the hard work he put into accomplishing this.  Yesterday we celebrated with a Red Seal Party.  We decorated with a brick theme.  Of course the party stores have nothing to offer so we came up with our own brick decorations.  Instead of balloons we had paper Red Bricks hanging from the ceiling.  Some family and friends sent in congratulations to Seth.  We had them hanging on the "brick" paper with a bunch of pictures from when he was working and going to school.  Vern arranged bricks on the table with some masonry tools.  We also served some of the food in buckets with little shovels.  We were trying to come up with a special and unique gift for Seth to honor this special accomplishment.  We came up with the idea of getting a Red Brick and making up a little metal plate that we had engraved.  We were also able to find a glass box to put the brick in.  Congratulations Seth on being a Certified Red Seal Brick and Stone Mason!

The Influence of a Godly Mother

Vern and I are so privileged to come from Christian homes with mother's who love the Lord.  Between our two mothers they raised 21 children, there are 36 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.  That is a lot of lives that they have touched just in their own families.  Our families were both very poor and our parents sacrificed a lot to raise all of their children.  How we thank the Lord for the love, support, and prayers of our mothers and for their Godly examples they have been in our lives.  (This is my grandmother's first Mother's Day in heaven.  I miss her dearly as she also invested heavily into our lives. )  Due to the many miles in between we will not be able to spend the day with either of our mothers but our hearts are filled with such joy as we think of our mothers who are our biggest cheerleaders in life.  

Terrific at Two

Two years ago we were blessed with our third grandchild, Jeremiah Seth Dyck.  It is hard to imagine life without little Jeremiah.  He has his dad's middle name and he reminds us so much of Seth.  Jeremiah LOVES playing outside and going for walks.  He loves his baby sister and I just love how he will randomly stop what he is playing with to go over and give his sister a kiss.  We loved you Jeremiah and know God has amazing things in store for you.  

Finishing Strong!

A year ago we were praying for God's direction for Titus as he was trying to figure out where and if he should go to school.  God opened up the door for him to go to Liberty University.  It was an incredible year for Titus and he learned a lot and was so thankful for the opportunity to attend there.  He finished he last final at 5:30 and we then took off and headed for home.  We are home now and Titus is getting settled in.  We want to thank those of you who prayed for Titus and encouraged him throughout the year.  Titus will now be looking for a summer job.  He still does not know whether he will be able to return in the fall.  So Titus would appreciate your continued prayers.   Thanks!

Across the Miles

I have spent many hours in the car these last couple of days.  I am now down here in VA to pick up Titus.  It worked out for me to stop in and see a very DEAR friend who I have not seen for several years.  Then I was able to pop in and see Zachary and Elisha.  It is always so much fun to work in random visits with very special people!